N.C. House Votes Unanimously to Ban I-95 Tolls

The North Carolina House voted unanimously to ban tolls on any existing interstate highway, which would end the state’s plan to toll Interstate 95.

The no-tolls measure passed Thursday still would have to be approved by the Senate and signed by Gov. Pat McCrory (R), who said during his campaign last year that he did not favor tolls on I-95.

Sponsored by Rep. Jeff Collins (R), the bill applies to the existing lanes on any interstate highway in North Carolina but would allow the state to add lanes and toll them as long as the number of existing, non-tolled lanes, remains the same.

North Carolina is the third state to ask the federal government for permission to toll an interstate, only to have its legislators reject the idea. The other states are Virginia and Missouri.

Virginia’s recently passed transportation bill put the brakes on its consideration of tolls on I-95, the East Coast’s main north-south highway.